Machine for making stuffing for furniture



June 9, 1936. .1. KRONHEIM MACHINE FOR MAKING STUFFING FOR FURNITURE 5Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 28, 1933 June 9, 1936. J. KRO NHEIM MACHINEFOR MAKING STUFFING FOR FURNITURE Filed July 28, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 2June 9, 1936. J. KRONHEIM MACHINE FOR MAKING STUFFING FOR FURNITURE 5Sheets-Shei 3 Filed July 28, 1953 June 9, 1936. JQKRQNHEIM 2,043,586

MACHINE FOR MAKING STUFFING FOR FURNITURE Filed July 28, 1933 5Sheets-Sheet 4 June 9, 1936. J. KRONHEIM MACHINE FOR MAKING STUFFING FORFURNITURE Filed July 28, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 illustrated in theaccompanying drawings a pre- Patented June 9, 1936 4 UNITED STATES2,043,586 MACHINEFOR MAKING STUFFING FOB FURNITURE Jacob Kronheim,Cleveland, Ohio Application July 2a, 1933, Serial No; 682,723

12 Claims.

My invention relates in general to stumng for chairs, cushions,mattresses and the like and more particularly to sanitary, strong,durable, resilient, fibrous stufling materials, which will not pack,gather and/or grind up in use, and which can readily be made from stripsor strands of fibrous material, sprayed with water or other fluid,curled, dried and finally pulled or picked apart to impart the desiredflufilness to the material.

r The general object of the present invention is to provide a machinefor economically and continuously producing a stufilng of the kindreferred to above which will be ready for immediate use as it leaves themachine.

Another object is to provide a machine for producing a stufllng of thekind referred to, including means fordampening the fibrous raw material,means for curling the material, means for drying the curled material andmeans for pulling and picking the curled and dried material.

Still another object is to provide a machine for treating fibrousmaterial in which the curling and drying of the material is effectedsimultaneously during advancement of the material.

A further object is to provide a machine of the kind referred to whichincludes rotary curling and drying means, and permits curling and dryingof the material for a substantial time interval while the material iscontinuously advancing.

With the above objects in view and in order that those skilled in thisart may have a full and complete understanding of the structural andfunctional advantages of a machine embodying this invention and in orderthat the attainment of other desirable objects may be indicated, 1 haveferred embodiment of the invention, and throughout the various views ofthese drawings like reference characters refer to the same parts.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a machine according to the invention whichproduces in a continuous manner the finished stuffing from fibrous rawmaterial fed thereinto;

Figure 2 is a side view of Figure 1: Figure 3 is an enlarged transverseview on line l-3 o gur 1:

Figure 4 is an enlarged cross sectional view on line 4-4 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view of the chain conveyor used in curling theraw material;

Figures 6 and 7 are enlarged fragmentary top and side views of the chainconveyor and its link' connection, the links beingshown in section;

.by tie rods 2|.

- Figure 8 is a diagrammatic view of the electrical heating elements andtheir hook up for individual and joint operation of all elements.

Figures 9, 10 and 11 show the yielding mounting of the chain conveyor.Thus Figure 9 is a fragmentary sectional view on line 9-3 of Figure 3,Figure 10 is a front view of Figure 9 and Figure 11 a sectional view online ll-il of Figure 10. I

The machine herein described, which is particularly designedto produce aresilient, fibrous stufiing material in a continuous manner, comprisesthree sections; the spraying section A for spraying the raw materialwith water or other fluid; the curling and drying section B and thepicking and delivery section C. Of course all three sections of themachine cooperate continuously in producing the finished product, but itis thought that the operation of the machine will be best understood bydescribing each section.

Section A comprises a frame 2 of laterally" spaced channel irons 3having attheir outer ends legs 4, which are preferably mounted in afoundation 5, extending lengthwise of the machine. The inner ends ofchannels 3 are connected to and supported by laterally extending arms 'Iof the main frame 8 of the curling and drying section B,'angle irons 6being employed to connect the parts 3 and I together, as by riveting orthe like. The outer ends of said channels 3 rotatably support an idlerroller 9, and arms 1 of frame 8 rotatably support a driven roller I land mounted upon these rollers is an endless conveyor belt Hi. The shaftit of idler roller 9 is stationary, whereas the shaft l2 of'drivenroller II is rotatabiy supported and carries at one end a driving gearadvancing through the curling and drying section B. This sectionincludes the main frame 8, previously referred to, which frame consistsof two oppositely arranged frame members 20, mounted on the foundation 5and rigidly secured together and properly spaced with respect to eachother a hollow, cylindrical curling and drying drum Frame members 20support Q 22 rotatably mounted on a hollow shaft 23, sup- 55 ported atits opposite ends in openings 24 of said frame members and rigidly heldtherein by means of set screws 25. Anti-friction roller bearings 26mounted in perforated disks 21 in turn attached to the side walls 28 ofdrum 22 are employed to reduce friction between said shaft and drum.Preferably, as shown, the curling and drying drum embodies two drumsections 29 rigidly secured together at their flanged inner portions 3|by means of bolts 30. The periphery of the two part drum assembly 22 islongitudinally corrugated to provide elongated curling ribs and grooves33 and 34 respectively. The inner ends of these ribs and groovesterminate in a circumferential channel 35, somewhat deeper than thegrooves, and which extends about the middle periphery of the drum, for apurpose which will be described later. The peripheral edges 36 of thecircular'side walls 28 of drum 22, which are flush with the periphery ofthe drum 22, are corrugated in the same manner as the latter.

Corrugated drum 22 meshes with and drives two endless flexible curlingand conveying members or chains 31, which interengage with the ribs 33and grooves 34 of'said drum, and are carried and guided by a series of.idle rollers 38, 38' and 39, 39 rotatably supported on shafts 40, 40'and 4|, 4|, which shafts are mounted in frame members 20. As shown thereare two curling chains one for each drum section 29, each of whichchains embodies a series of approximately triangularly shaped rods 42,pivotally secured at opposite ends to the links of parallel sidechains'44. These side chains 44 consist of supporting links 45 and connectinglinks 46, interconnected by the cylindrical end portions 41 of crossrods 42 and held against lateral movement by cotter pins 48. The ovalshaped supporting links 45 include laterally offset shoulder portions orextensions 50, which co-operate with the flat bottom faces 5| of rods42, to hold the rods in proper working position during curlingoperations, when the pointed top portions 52 thereof extend into thegrooves 34 of drum 22. The outer side chains 44 engage with the sidewalls 20 and the inner side chains engage with the side walls of channelin drum 22 and thus prevent lateral movement of the curling andconveying chains 31 on drum 22. I

Each cross rod 42 of the curling and conveying chains 31 remains in meshwith drum 22 during more than one half a revolution of the latter, afterbeing engaged by the advancing ribs 33. The material fed between saidchains and the drum is thus subjected to curling pressure for asubstantial time interval while passing the curling section. In order toattain this desideratum, and to effect proper feeding of the materialfrom belt conveyor I0 into curling section B, the curling and conveyingchains 31 are guided to travel in an approximately U-shaped orsemi-circular course while in contact with the curling drum 22,

and the longitudinal axis of the drum is of course symmetricallyarranged with respect to said line of travel. This arrangement insuresconstant and intimate contact between the chains and drum' throughout agreater portion of the drum area, and therefore also insures delivery ofproperly curled material to conveyor 53, which conveys the materialtothe hereinafter described- Preferably belt conveyor I0 which feeds thesprayed or treated material into curling and drying section B isslightly elevated'with respect to said section to facilitate picking anddelivery section C,

feeding of raw material from the treating section into the curlingsection.

Idle rollers 39' are yieldingly supported to avoid undesirable stresseson chains 31, when heavy layers of material are fed between said chains5 and the drum 22. Thus the idle roller shaft 4| is mounted on bracketsor link members I05, pivotally secured to idle roller shaft Thesebrackets are yieldingly forced toward drum 22 by means of angularbrackets I06, which are piv- 10 otally secured to opposite ends of shaft4| and by means of bolts I01 and springs I08 cooperate with otherbrackets or angular extensions I09 on frame member 20 to yieldinglycounteract stresses tending to swing brackets I05 away from drum 22. 15The bolts I01 which extend through openings 0 in brackets 06 andopenings III in extensions I09 are rigidly secured to bracket I06 bymeans of a nut member 2 and are slidably extended through extensions I09. Springs I 08 sleeved upon 20 said bolts seat against brackets I09and spring tension adjusting nuts 4 and force angular brackets I06toward drum 22. Nut members 5 at the ends of bolts I01 limit themovement of bracket I06 toward drum 22, and bolts 6 secured toextensions I09 by means of nut members 1 and H8 cooperate with bracketsI 06 in limiting movement of bracket or links 05 in an oppositedirection.

It is essential that the raw material be subjected to both heat andpressure in order to produce the desired curling effect, thus thepressure is exerted by curling chains 31, and the heat is supplied bycurling drum 22. Enclosed within the latter are a pair of cylinders 55,one for each 35 drum section 29, rigidly supported upon stationaryhollow shaft 23, and connected to the periphery of these cylinders bymeans of spaced insulating posts 56, are a plurality of electricalheating elements 54. Each cylinder carries six 40 electrical heatingelements or coils 54, each of which encircles its respective cylinder55. The free ends of these heating coils extend inwardly throughopenings in the cylinders and are connected to connecting posts 51, fromwhich lead wires 58, 59 and a cable 60 extend to and through hollowshaft 23 to a switch box 6| and a connecting box 62, attached to mainframe 8 opposite the ends of hollow shaft 23 by means of brackets 63 and64 respectively. Switch box 6| contains four switches 65, each of whichis electrically connected with three heating coils, and by means of athree arm bridge 66 permits connection of one, two or three coils 54with the line 61, and safety switch 68 is employed to preventoverheating of the coils.

After the material has been curled and dried in the continuous mannerpreviously described, said material is conveyed to the picking anddelivery section C, by means of endless belt 11 of conveyor 60 53, whichoperates over an idler roller 15 and a driven roller 16. Roller 15 ismounted in the outer ends of a pair of channel irons 10 secured at theirinner ends to arms 13, on frame 8 by means of brackets 15', andsupported at their outer ends by legs 1|. Conveyor 53 delivers thecurled and dried material to the pulling and picking device Qarranged inalignment with and adjoining the discharge end of said conveyor. Thisdevice, which is of common design, embodies 70 two oppositely rotatingpicking rolls and 0|, arranged in a housing 82, having at one sidethereof an elongated discharge opening 82' through which the finishedproduct is discharged.

The rotating picking rolls 80 and 8| carry a piu- 76 split the materiallongitudinally into a multiplicity of fine fibers or threads and tochange the previously curled, dried andhardenegi material into a curly,fiufiy product of inherent resiliency.

According to common practice in pickingdevices of the kind shown, rolls80 and 8| rotate with different speed and are of different size to morereadily accomplish the desired results.

The niachine thus described is driven by an electric motor 83. Thismotor 83 is coupled by means of a pulley drive 84 with a reduction unit85, which in turn is coupled with the rotatable curling and drying drum22 by means of a chain drive 86. This chain drive embodies a small gear81, rigidly connected to shaft 88 of reduction unit 85, a large gear 88,rigidly connected to drum 22 and a chain 90. The pulley drive 84, thereduction unit 85 and the chain drive 88 reduces the speed of drum 22relative to that of motor 88 to a ratio of 1 to 10 revolutions perminute. These relative speeds are essential so that-drum 22 will havecontact with the material sufiiciently long to insure satisfactorycurling and drying. It is also essential that the speed of travel ofconveyor belts l and ll be timed relatively to that of drum 22, in orderto insure the feeding of proper amounts of treated material to curlingand drying section B. Conveyor belt in must travel much faster than therelative travel of drum 22, because of the'curling of the material insection B, where the material is subjected to a corrugating, curlingaction and therefore is greatly decreased in length in comparison tothat of the material before being corrugated. Of course the extent ofthe corrugating' surface of the drum must be taken into considerationwhen determining the necessary relative speeds of conveyor belt Ill anddrum 22. Unless the relative speeds of travel are properly gauged thematerial will either buckle or the continuity of the stream of materialbeing fed to the drum will be broken. On the other hand the speed oftravel of conveyor belt 11 must be approximately equal to that of thetravel of the curling and drying surface of drum 22, to preventstretching of the curled material or accumulation of .curled and driedmaterial in front of the pulling and picking device 19. To that effectthere is provided a chain drive St between reduction unit 85 andconveyor l0, which chain drive includes a; large gear 92, rigidlymounted on shaft 88 of reduction unit 85, a smaller idler gear 93mounted on idler shaft94 and a. chain 95. Idler shaft 94 carries at itsopposite end a gear 96 in mesh with gear I on driven roller II whichdrives conveyor belt-i0. Belt 11 is driven from idler shaft 94 by meansof a chain drive 99. Thus idler shaft 94 carries a small gear 98 coupledby means of the chain 99 with a larger idler gear I00, rigidly connectedwith the rotatably supported shaft 4| of roller 39, which shaft in turncarries at its opposite end a gear iill meshing with gear I8 on drivenroller 16 which drives belt 11. The pulling and picking device 18 isdriven by a separate motor Hi3, so that the speed of picking rolls 8!!and 8|, can be conveniently adjusted.

The operation 'of the machine is as follows: When heating elements 54have sufliciently heated drum 22, the raw material is manually orautomatically fed to conveyor Ill, and during its travel on saidconveyor the material is dampened by spraying device IS. The moistmaterial is then fed uninterruptedly to the curling and .drying sectionwhere it, is pressed between the heating,

curling and drying drum 22 and curling chain 81 while being continuouslyadvanced, and after leaving said section dried and curled is conveyed tothe pulling and picking device 18, where said material is pulled andpicked apart and finally 5 discharged through discharge opening 82'.

It is believed that the foregoing conveys a clear understanding of myimprovements and the ob- Jects prefaced above, and it should beunderstood that while I have illustrated only one working embodiment ofmy invention various changes and modifications might be madewithout'departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asexpressed in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is: 1. In a machine formaking stufling for chairs,

couches etc. from fibrous material having a curling section, astationary hollow shaft, a hollow curling drum rotatably mounted on saidshaft, a plurality of heating means within said curling drum rigidlymounted on said shaft, means for individual and combined operation ofsaid heating means, means extending through said hollow shaft tosaidheating means for interconnecting said operating means with said heatingmeans, and an endless curling chain opposite said curling drum forcooperation therewith during curling operations.

2. In a machine for making stumng for chairs, couches, etc. from fibrousmaterial having a curling section, a frame, a hollow shaft rigidlysecured to said frame, a hollow curling drum rotatably mounted withinsaid frame upon said hollow shaft, a plurality of electrical heatingcoils within said curling drum rigidly mounted on said shaft, switchmeans for individual and combined operation of said heating coils, wireconnections between said coils and said switching means extendingthrough said hollow shaft and an endless curling chain opposite saidcurling drum for cooperation therewith during curling operations.

3. In a machine for making stufiing for chairs, couches etc. fromfibrous material having a curling section as described in claim 1, anendless curling chain embodying oppositely arranged chains andapproximately triangularly shaped connecting rods supported by saidchains, said chains including supporting links having means cooperatingwith said connecting rods in holding same in proper working position,

4.'A machine for continuously making stufling for chairs, couches etc.from fibrous material, comprising driven rotatable curling means,heating means for said curling means, a conveyor for feeding materialinto said rotatable curling means, a conveyor for conveying curledmaterial from said curling means and driving means for said curlingmeans and said conveyors, said feed conveyor being driven at greaterspeed than said 69 curling means and said other conveyor.

5. In a machine for continuously making stuffing for chairs, couchesetc. from fibrous material, means for treating the material with afluid, rotatable means for curling and drying the material, conveyingmeans for feeding material to said rotatable curling and drying means,driving means for said conveying means and said rotatable curling meansadapted to drive said conveying means and curling means at differentspeeds, individually driven picking and pulling means, and conveyingmeans driven by said driving means at the speed of said curling means tofeed the curled anddried material in a continu- 75 couches etc. fromfibrous material, comprising a frame, a hollow drum mounted on saidframe having a corrugated surface, an endless belt-like curling meanscontacting with and driven by said drum adapted to advance and curlmaterial by contacting same with the drum, guide rollers movable on saidframe for guiding said curling means, a sub-frame structure hingedlyconnected to said frame, one of said guide rollers being mounted on saidsub-frame and means on said frame yieldingly shifting said sub-frame toeffect tensioning of said endless curling means, curling of material ata yielding predetermined pressure.

7. A machine for making stufling for chairs, couches etc. from fibrousmaterial including a heated curling section, conveying means foradvancing material to said curling section, a picking section, andconveying means for feeding curled material from said curling section tosaid picking section, said curling section including a curling drum andan endless belt-like curling means cooperating with said drum in curlingand advancing said material under predetermined yielding pressurethrough said curling section and said belt like curling means and theconveyor means between said curling section and said picking sectionadvancing with equal speed. '8. In a machine for continuously makingstufiing for chairs, couches etc. from moistened fibrous material,rotatable means for curling and holstery from fibrous materialcomprising a curling section, a stationary hollow shaft a hollow curlingdrum rotatably mounted on said shaft, a plurality of heating meanswithin said curling drum, means for individual and combined on- 6eration of said heating means, means extending through said hollow shaftto said heating means for interconnecting said operating means with saidheating means, and an endless curling chain opposite said curling drumfor co-operation l0 therewith during the curling operation.

10. In a machine for making stufling for upholstery from fibrousmaterial, comprising a curling section a stationary hollow shaft, ahollow curling drum rotatably mounted on said 15 shaft, a plurality ofheating means within said curling drum and rigidly carried by saidshaft, means for the individual and combined operation of said heatingmeans, and an endless curling chain opposite said curling drum forco-opera- 20 tion therewith during the curling operation.

11. In a machine for making stufiing for chairs, couches, etc., fromfibrous material having a curling section, a frame, a hollow shaftrigidly secured to said frame, a hollow curling drum 25 rotatablymounted within said frame upon said hollow shaft, a plurality ofelectrical heating coils within said curling drum, switch means forindividual and combined operation of said heating coils, wireconnections between said coils and said 30 switching means extendingthroiuh said hollow shaft, and an endless curling chain opposite saidcurling drum for co-operation therewith during curling operations.

12. A machine for continuously making stufl- 35 ing for upholstery fromfibrous material, comprising a-moving curling means, heating means I forsaid curling means, a conveyor for feeding material into said curlingmeans, a conveyor for conveying curled material from said curling 40means, and driving means for the curling means and conveyors, and saidfeed conveyor being driven at a greater speed than the curling means andthe other conveyor. 4 a

JACOB KRONI-EIM.

